The duo of Chris Clemons and Bruce Irvin is what Seattle relies upon to generate the heat up front and pressure opposing quarterbacks, but in this game they were both kept relatively quiet. The pair combined for 75 pass-rushes in the game and ended up with two knockdowns (both from Clemons) and four additional hurries, which probably flatters their performances as most of them came either from pursuing plays or after a long time trying to fight off the blocks of the Lions’ tackles. Clemons brought what was probably the biggest pass-rushing play of the pair, as he beat the attempted cut-block of Jeff Backus immediately before chasing down Stafford and hitting him as he threw, before he drove him into the turf with a hit that left the quarterback feeling the affects for a few plays.

But on a positive note....

Okung was pass protecting for 38 snaps in this game and he didn’t allow a single pressure, which was critical to allowing his young quarterback to stand up and make plays when it counted. Okung also earned himself a positive grade for his work in the run game, driving DRE Kyle Vanden Bosch into the line of scrimmage with 6.05 to go in the fourth quarter to give his running back the edge.

EDIT: And the people who got the best grades for the game are....

- A heartbreaking loss but we’ll try to cheer up a few Seahawks players this morning. Naturally those will be the guys who got the highest grades, so step forward Russell Wilson (+3.9), Russell Okung (+3.6) and Earl Thomas (+1..

But I think the bigger issue, which has been a bugaboo for awhile, is that we don't rush the passer well on the road. It can't be THAT dramatic a difference between C Link and on the road, can it? I guess I may have answered my own question.

They definitely need to switch things up before the next away game (in Miami). I'd like to see some more creativity - stunts and the like.

Irvin has completely disappeared since the Carolina game. The only time I even noticed him yesterday was a few times that the Detroit Right Tackle was showing him 5 yards into the backfield, away from the pocket.

The Seahawks do not have a good pass rush. Plain and simple. Take away the first half of the GB game, and it's bording on bad. They give way too much time to nearly every qb they play.

And do not underestimate the impact of playing at home on the pass rush. They get an extra half step that is all the world of a difference. Add to it simply playing extra pumped up and more aggressive as a whole. It definitely is a hinderance on the pass rush on the road. When they are used to having that extra boost, and then suddenly dont have it, they flounder.

One of the biggest misnomers of this Seahawks team is it has a good pass rush. No it doesn't.

I've been okay with Irvin in the last 3 games. He hasn't had a sack, but almost every time he's out there he forces the QB to move in the pocket. That won't impact his statline, but it helps, moreso for bad QBs. For Brady and Stafford it didn't effect their play much, but for Smith it did.

Clemons is one of the most consistent players on our team. Sacks tend to come in bunches, and are not an ideal way to measure a pass rush on an individual level.

I thought Seattle did an okay job pressuring Stafford, but he was lights out. He'd move in the pocket, extend the play, and almost always find someone. I think this was a case of a great QB performance making our pass rush look worse than it really was.

Do we have an elite pass rush? No. And we probably won't so long as Red Bryant is out there 66%+ of the snaps. We could really use a guy like Calais Campbell in Red Bryant's role- someone who can stop the run and still get to the QB. Even when Bryant gets there, the QB ALWAYS runs around him without much effort.

TDOTSEAHAWK wrote:I also think that Tom Brady's short passing game negates edge rushers greatly. Moreover, I think Detroit did a great job incorporating those principles into a big game against us.

True but at the same time after just watching NFL Game Rewind our interior pass rush is pretty damn terrible. We did not collapse the pocket in Staffords face at all. Sure edge rushers may be flying around the corner but when all someone has to do is step up or side step to the void by the outside rush it doesn't bode well. Another thing i noticed was in the second half when the lions wanted to get the ball to Megatron they put him over on Browner's side and had success at getting it to him every time besides his drop.

We really really missed Jason Jones in this game. He provides most of our interior pass rush--that's why we signed him. My concern is that he's the only guy that we seem to have in that role. I think in the off-season we need to concentrate on getting more depth in that area.

TDOTSEAHAWK wrote:I also think that Tom Brady's short passing game negates edge rushers greatly. Moreover, I think Detroit did a great job incorporating those principles into a big game against us.

True but at the same time after just watching NFL Game Rewind our interior pass rush is pretty damn terrible. We did not collapse the pocket in Staffords face at all. Sure edge rushers may be flying around the corner but when all someone has to do is step up or side step to the void by the outside rush it doesn't bode well. Another thing i noticed was in the second half when the lions wanted to get the ball to Megatron they put him over on Browner's side and had success at getting it to him every time besides his drop.

Jason Jones is a large part of the interior pressure package. We need him to get healthy and need some more depth at that skillset

TDOTSEAHAWK wrote:I also think that Tom Brady's short passing game negates edge rushers greatly. Moreover, I think Detroit did a great job incorporating those principles into a big game against us.

True but at the same time after just watching NFL Game Rewind our interior pass rush is pretty damn terrible. We did not collapse the pocket in Staffords face at all. Sure edge rushers may be flying around the corner but when all someone has to do is step up or side step to the void by the outside rush it doesn't bode well. Another thing i noticed was in the second half when the lions wanted to get the ball to Megatron they put him over on Browner's side and had success at getting it to him every time besides his drop.

Jason Jones is a large part of the interior pressure package. We need him to get healthy and need some more depth at that skillset

In most games i have watched i really do not think Jones is that big of a factor. Our interior pass rush has been lacking in a lot games. But now that i finally finished watching the entire Rewind i have to say the Run Blocking was not good today but i do not look much into it due to the fact i think the Lions have maybe the best line in football as far as a front 4. Linebackers were terrible in coverage all game. They need to start undercutting the routes across the middle or play a little zone with man principle and run with the guy for a bit. The D line and LBs did not play screens very well the entire game. I like Browner as a mauler but have never been high on him in terms of coverage. He gave up a lot of plays this game. The only people on the defense i would give a good grade too in this game are Sherman, Thomas, and Wagner (but he should have played coverage a bit better), and Mebane. Everyone else was way below average. Kam had probably one of his worst games i have seen him have as a pro. For him and Sherman to get beat deep on that Bomb to young shouldn't happen. They never show any angles of what Sherman did but i am assuming Sherman released him to Kam or expected Kam to cover over the top. Other than that i thought the boys played a pretty damn good game.

The turning point in the game was the 3rd and 11 when we were up by 2 scores..We had an opportunity to get a stop and go up 3 scores- the Lions would have in veritably folded. With Jones in there, I doubt Stafford is able to step up in the pocket like he did to release the bomb to Young...

But I think the bigger issue, which has been a bugaboo for awhile, is that we don't rush the passer well on the road. It can't be THAT dramatic a difference between C Link and on the road, can it? I guess I may have answered my own question.

They definitely need to switch things up before the next away game (in Miami). I'd like to see some more creativity - stunts and the like.

Disagree. We do a great job of pass rush for the first two plays. Then we are HORRIble on 3rd downs. We had them in 3rd and long situations like 12 or 13 times, of which they completed 75% ! And this is not unique to this game. The Rams game, similar situation. The Patriots game, similar. That is poor coaching and defensive schemes. Our soft seams and inability to to stop the underneath pass has hurt us many times. Mix that in with a capable QB like Stafford and we will get out gunned. It's a biiiig problem